Where's the Silver Lining?

"Little Guy"

Our oldest child, René, gave us four grandchildren: Macayla, Keri, Faris, and Yasmeen (Meena). Now the oldest two girls have made René a grandmother.

Macayla's son, Kurtis, and Robert bonded when the baby was a few days old. I taught, but Robert went to help Macayla (the baby's father wasn't much help, but he's another story entirely). Robert visited her and the baby almost every day. By the time Kurtis was a week old, even when asleep, if he heard Robert's voice, his head moved toward the sound. Until just a couple of years ago, Robert was a major male-role model in that little one's life.

The first time Ryan and Colby (Randy's two oldest boys) meet Kurtis, then a six-mouth-old, all three boys fell in love with each other. When we left Macayla's apartment, Colby, then about five-years old, asked, "When will we get to see the little guy again?" And "Little Guy" became Kurtis' nickname, and a special bond grew between Colby and Kurtis.

One day when Kurtis was nearly four, he pointed at Robert and asked, "What's PaPa's real name?"

"Robert Lee Zabel," I answered. "You have the same middle name as your PaPa."

"Middle name? What's that?"

"What's your name?" I asked in return.

He frowned as he replied, "Kurtis Lee Reel."

"So your middle name is Lee, and so is mine," Robert told him.

Kurtis studied Robert for a minute before announcing, "That's my name, too."

"Yes, Lee is your middle name, too," I agreed.

"No, my name is gonna be Kurtis Lee Zabel." He nodded as if to punctuate his decision.

When Macayla picked Kurtis up, he turned to me and told me, "Tell her."

"Tell her, what, sweetie?"

"You know, what I said. Tell her what my name's gonna be." He stared at me as if to get the idea implanted well this time.

"Oh." I finally understood. "Kurtis says he wants his name to be Kurtis Lee Zabel." Then I explained how we had told him than he and PaPa had the same middle name before he announced his change of name.

Nearly four months later, we were visiting Kurtis, Macayla, and Sean (who has become Kurtis' father-figure and a good one). After crawling into my lap for some hugs and then going to Robert for the same, Kurtis turned to me.

"I still mean it."

"You still mean what?" I asked, completely lost.

"You know. What I told you at your house." He tilted his head and quirked his mouth. Poor thing to have such a dense Granny.

"What you told me at my house . . ." I frantically tried to remember.

He sighed quite dramatically. "About my name?"

The light bulb went on over both my head and Robert's.

"Once he gets an idea, he keeps it," Macayla laughed. "He's a goober."

Last night Macayla, Sean, and Kurtis vistied us, and we had chili Frito pies. After we had finished and Kurtis had read Cinderella aloud to us, he put the book back where it belongs. Then he came over to stand beside my chair and hugged me.

"Granny, PaPa's heart doesn't work right, and it makes me sad," he whispered as he laid his head on my shoulder.

Oh, sweetie, it makes me sad, too.

PaPa and Kurtis